NY's top court says towns can ban fracking

New York's towns can use zoning laws to ban hydraulic fracturing within their borders, the state's top court ruled Monday.

The two towns had been embroiled in separate, three-year-long legal disputes over the validity of their local fracking bans. An oil-and-gas company and a Middlefield dairy farm had challenged the bans, arguing that New York law gives full power to the state to regulate the industry.

"We are asked in these two appeals whether towns may ban oil and gas production activities, including hydrofracking, within municipal boundaries through the adoption of local zoning laws," Associate Judge Victoria Graffeo wrote in the majority opinion. "We conclude that they may because the supersession clause in the statewide Oil, Gas and Solution Mining Law (OGSML) does not preempt the home rule authority vested in municipalities to regulate land use."

The decision Monday affirms the rulings of the lower courts, which had ruled in favor of the towns.

High-volume hydrofracking has been on hold in New York since 2008, when then-Gov. David Paterson ordered the Department of Environmental Conservation to complete a lengthy environmental review. That review continues today under Gov. Andrew Cuomo, with no deadline for completion.

Anschutz Exploration Corp., a Colorado-based oil-and-gas company, first challenged Dryden's anti-fracking zoning ordinance in 2011, and the Cooperstown Holstein Corp. filed suit against Middlefield not long after. Norse Energy took over for Anschutz after the state Supreme Court ruled in favor of the town, and Norse's trustee took over after the company filed for bankruptcy last year.

Jon Campbell is an Albany correspondent for Gannett's New York outlets. He's been working out of the Albany Bureau since 2011, covering Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration and the state Legislature. Previously, he was the environment and health reporter for the Press &amp; Sun-Bulletin in Binghamton. A native of Lockport, Niagara County, he's an avid Bills and Sabres fan.